Chinese Jades from the Xianquxuan Collection
Chinese Jades from the Xianquxuan Collection
No reserve
Lot Closed
December 5, 03:36 AM GMT
Estimate
80,000 - 100,000 HKD
Lot Details
Description
A celadon jade 'tiger' pendant, xi, a 'kuilong' earring, jue, and a 'cloud' pendant
Eastern Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period
東周春秋 青玉虎形觽、夔龍紋玦及夔龍紋亞字珮 一組三件
largest l. 7.6 cm
Ku Ngar Antique Limited, Hong Kong, 10th November 2000.
古雅閣,香港,2000年11月10日
Compare a similar set of jade ornaments in the British Museum, but with a more flat-shaped dragon ‘xi’ pendant that is attributed to the Qin State of Spring and Autumn period, see Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 61, pl. 43. The present set of three jade ornaments may have been part of a larger jade pendant set of symmetrical arrangement, for example see a complete set of jade ornaments including a jade face mask, excavated from the tomb of the Guo State, Western Zhou dynasty in current day Sanmenxia City, Henan Province, see Yang Boda, zhongguo yuqi quanji, vol. 2, Shijiazhuang, 2006, no.296. Jade ‘xi’ pendants of either dragon or tiger form became popular during the Western Zhou dynasty, see a related ‘dragon’ pendant, Western Zhou dynasty, in the Long County Museum, Shaanxi Province, illustrated in Liu Yunhui ed., Shaanxi Chutu Dongzhou Yuqi [Eastern Zhou Dynasty Jades Unearthed in Shaanxi], Beijing, 2006, p. 49, pl. LB22. ‘Xi’ pendants such as the present lot is often placed at the bottom of a string of pendants, known as ‘chong ya’, for example, see a related late Spring and Autumn period pendant, currently in the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics, illustrated in Yang Boda, ibid., no. 61
For a similar jade earring known as ‘jue’, see a jade ‘dragon’ earring, early Spring and Autumn period ‘dragon’, currently in the Xiangyang Museum, illustrated in Youfeng laiyi: Hubei chutu Zeng Chu yuqi [The Phoenix Arrives: Jade Artifacts from the Zeng and Chu Unearthed in Hubei], Hong Kong, 2018, p. 64.
青玉質,觽為虎頭蛇身,身陰刻劍羽形虎斑,玦及工字珮皆陰刻變體夔龍紋,玦身龍紋交纏繁複。
大英博物館藏有一組三件玉器,組合形制與本組相同,惟大英博物館之觽為扁平狀,館方認為是春秋秦國之物,見Jessica Rawson著,《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing》,倫敦,1995,頁61,圖版43。此組三件玉器當屬於一套左右對稱之大型玉珮,參照河南省三門峽市西周虢國貴族墓出土一套完整玉面罩及佩飾,左右便有類似本組拍品之飾品,惟見環而無玦,見見楊伯達編,《中國玉器全集》,石家莊,2005年,卷2,圖版296。玉觽西周已經流行,龍虎不分,比較陝西省隴縣圖博館收藏一件西周龍紋玉觽,出土於東周秦墓,形制於本品相似,見劉雲輝編,《陝西出土東周玉器》,北京,2006年,頁49,圖版LB22。此類觽飾於一串佩飾之底部,稱為衝牙,可參照河南省文物研究所藏一件春秋晚期玉衝牙,形狀類似然更抽象,見楊伯達前書,編號61。
夔龍紋玦應為耳飾,歷史悠久,可參考襄陽博物館藏一件春秋早期雲龍紋玦,紋飾設計與本件頗似,見《有鳳來儀:湖北出土曾楚玉器》,香港,2018年,頁64。